Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

"Doctor Bashir, I Presume"

Air date: 2/24/1997
Teleplay by Ronald D. Moore
Story by Jimmy Diggs
Directed by David Livingston

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan

"Think of it Julian. If this thing works you'll be able to irritate hundreds of people you've never even met." — O'Brien

Nutshell: An okay main plot saddled with a horrendous subplot. Not too impressive.

Though reasonable at times, "Doctor Bashir, I Presume" is probably the weakest episode of DS9 so far this season (please note that I'm not counting "Let He Who Is Without Sin " as an episode). The show takes the standard A/B-story structure, common to most current Trek shows. While the A-story is okay in places, it doesn't have the payoff it deserves. The B-story, meanwhile, is pretty much a waste of air time.

Doctor Lewis Zimmerman (Robert Picardo), the creator of the emergency medical holographic program, comes to DS9 to inform Doctor Bashir that he has been selected by Starfleet to become the model for a new holographic doctor. The new system (designed as a long-term medical hologram, or LMH) would be based completely on Julian's likeness, right down to the most subtle detail of his personality. In order to understand as much as possible about Bashir, Zimmerman interviews his closest acquaintances, from his fellow officers to his closest friends and even his parents, Richard and Amsha Bashir (Brian George and Fadwa El Guindi).

The problem is that Julian doesn't want his parents on DS9 or anywhere near him. Zimmerman invites them to the station anyway—against Julian's wishes and outside his knowledge—and it's a surprise for Bashir that can be called just about anything but "pleasant."

The best scenes in "Doctor Bashir, I Presume" are the uncomfortable ones of repressed scorn where Julian sits in malcontent with his parents. We know there's a history and a problem here, and Siddig does a decent job of conveying the sense of unhappiness without going overboard. The signs leading up to the big character explosion and the revelation of Julian and his parents' "secret" are also sensibly performed.

The secret revealed is that Julian is a product of genetic enhancement. When he was a young child he was slow and fell behind in school, and his parents, in an act of desperation, took it upon themselves to have Julian's DNA "resequenced." This turned Julian into a model character of physical and mental proficiency. The procedure was illegal, however, and if anyone were to find out about it now, Julian could lose his career and his parents could go to prison.

There are some relevant points here—given the recent successful sheep-cloning experiment and the moral implications of doing such genetic experiments with humans, "Doctor Bashir, I Presume" airs in an ironically timely fashion. The morality of "creating" or "enhancing" people genetically is a very interesting moral dilemma—and one that the Star Trek universe has deemed wrong. That's fine in itself, but there's not enough drama here. The show doesn't keep the power on long enough to make the story have the emotional impact it really needs. I liked Bashir's problem of coming to terms with his parents over what they did to him at a time when he was too young to have a say in the matter. However, there's simply not enough done with it. Julian's mother, in particular, doesn't have key lines where she should have, making much of the episode seem like a "Julian versus his father" story. And when the secret does come out into the open, it's done in a conveniently "plot"-induced way: when Julian's parents reveal key information to the holographic image of Julian while O'Brien and Zimmerman are standing within earshot in the next room.

The biggest drawback with this premise that makes it simply "okay" when it should've been "good" is the way the ending sidesteps practically all the consequences. Julian decides he's going to resign with dignity since his career is doomed anyway, but then Julian's father makes a negotiation in the eleventh hour with an Admiral Bennett (J. Patrick McCormack) that, as far as I can tell, goes against everything Julian has said about Starfleet's rules. Why exactly is it that Bennett allows Julian to keep his career in exchange for his father's agreement to spend two years in prison? Sure, it's the "noble act of redemption for his son" that seemed necessary under the show's initial painting of Richard Bashir as a man who normally doesn't take responsibility where he should, but the ease of Julian's escape from what seemed an impossible situation hurts dramatically quite a bit, and the whole story thus comes off looking somewhat transparent and lightweight.

Another big problem with the main story is that it's constantly interrupted by a nearly worthless B-story. The whole subplot involving Rom and Leeta's "unrealized romance" is worthy of being tossed out the nearest window, so far as I'm concerned. Once again Max Grodenchinchik and the writers portray Rom as a caricature completely devoid of the slightest remnant of subtlety, as well lacking all signs of a real personality. All the entire B-story does is convince me more than ever that Rom is a cardboard, exaggerated, epitome of idiocy with no hint of any social grace. It wouldn't be so bad if Rom were simply a little bashful or clumsy with women, but Rom's complete state of paralysis whenever Leeta talks to him is so hopelessly overstated and unfunny that it had me cringing more often than not. I don't think we really need to be hit over the head with a sledgehammer to realize Rom possesses such characteristics, but that's precisely what the writers have done with so many recent Rom plots, and I'm sick of it. As a result, Rom is by far my least favorite character of the ensemble.

Meanwhile, Leeta comes off looking fairly awful herself. Chase Masterson, while physically attractive, has lost all sense of charisma that her character seemed to have is seasons past. She's been virtually reduced to a superficial bimbo in a nice body. (Coming from the always-sexist Quark, the rather mean line of sarcasm to Leeta, "Sure you have brains, that's why I hired you," seemed scathingly amusing at the time, but it almost seems like a disturbing self-fulfilling prophecy in retrospect.) Leeta comes across in this episode about as shallow and empty-headed as I hope a regular character can get on this series, and that bothers me quite a bit, because I know the writing and actors are capable of much more. Tasteless attempts at comedy like the scene where Zimmerman visits Leeta in her quarters only to happen upon her just after she has stepped out of the shower (and then she conveniently drops her towel for a totally forced uncomfortable situation) are not funny. They're idiotic and lowbrow—not reasons I watch Trek.

On the other hand, we have an effective performance by Robert Picardo, who creates the real Lewis Zimmerman as someone who is similar to Doc on Voyager, but yet different enough to create a different character with more human qualities. Picardo works very well in almost every situation he appears in, whether playing opposite Brooks, Meaney, or Siddig. The acerbic sarcasm that Doc on Voyager has is present in Zimmerman, but at the same time there's a subtle downplay in the attitude that works wonders, and I think that's worthy of quite a bit of praise on Picardo's part.

Some of the early scenes concerning Zimmerman and Bashir that focus on the LMH plot are not of utmost importance to the real story here, but they do entertain as self-contained set-pieces—especially a fun scene featuring two Zimmermans and two Bashirs in the same camera frame.

Other than that I don't think there's a whole lot else to say about "Doctor Bashir, I Presume." I would not call this a bad show per se, but after balancing the passable main plot and the repulsive subplot, it comes out somewhere in the "mediocre" range.

As an aside, let me wrap up with a quick notion. Two weeks earlier when "In Purgatory's Shadow" aired and after which I peeked at the air schedule, I noticed "Doctor Bashir, I Presume" in the lineup. Based on the title I thought maybe this show would be a character analysis of Bashir after his experience in the Dominion prison and his thoughts (as well as everyone else's) on his being replaced by a Changeling imposter. It could've been a compelling follow-up to a major event, much the way TNG's "Family" followed up "The Best of Both Worlds." Too bad—I think I would've enjoyed that much more than this. Just a thought.

I would also give this three stars. The conversation where Bashir speaks to
O'Brien and then again to his parents BOTH reduce me to tears, they're
excellent pieces of writing and acting. Throw in the wonderful Zimmerman
and you've got one of my favourite DS9 eps.

The only thing this episode did was convince me that I'm not THAT bad with
women after all. Leeta is a shallow and empty-headed superficial bimbo, and
as such would never date Rom, no matter how he acted. They are now on my
'Character Assassination' list.

It's really too bad because Bashir's genetic engineering actually makes
sense, I've heard some fans even believe that it was planned at the
beginning of the series - deliberately getting a question wrong to avoid
becoming valedictorian in his class, not wanted to look up anyone on Earth
in "Homefront" - this could have been a great episode. But it was not to
be.

As explained by Nic, there was so much more potential for Bashir's story in
this episode, given all the hints in the seasons prior. And the lack of
attention to the changeling situation bothers me, as well.

In a perfect world, I'd have placed this episode before the 2-parter that
preceded it. Julian's "clone" happened way too suddenly, and it would've
been really interesting to see what would happen if the changeling were
still on the station when his parents slip up about the family secret. The
changeling has to find some way to play along, suspicions are raised, and
it's existence there would potentially have more impact on the series.
Segue into the 2-parter. Hmm.

But standing on its own, apart from the current main storyline, it's still
intriguing and enjoyable. Leeta/Rom did nothing for me, but I always
welcome the small moments when Miles realizes how much he likes and
respects Julian.

If one excises the Leeta/Rom story, this is one of the better outings this
season...finally, here's the Starfleet I've been missing (the Admiral asks
Julian's father to report to prison and needs not enforce it with police
action)--that's the Federation I know and love. The scenes with Bashir and
his parents really work and mean something; it adds a desperately needed
dimension of shame to his character. There was a big missed opportunity
here for some interaction with Garak (that would have also helped tie it
into the Changling experience), but alas the writers have a penchant for
stupid B plots.

It was a pleasure to see Robert Picardo, it helped me feel like I was
watching Star Trek again--I also appreciated the other allusion to Voyager,
the penal colony in New Zealand where Tom Paris was serving.

Finally I hate Rom, I hate Leeta, may they die in an explosion together.

You must not have been awkward with girls, because I thought Rom was
perfectly awkward in this one. The awkward overly-shy trope is the one
relationship type that the writers consistently get right, which I can only
assume comes from experience on a show written by nerds for nerds.

@jon, the show's total disregard for ethnic stereotyping was never more
evident to me than in the episode "Explorers" when Bashir and O'Brien - an
Englishman and an Irishman - got drunk together and sang "Jerusalem," which
is a very British nationalist song. And they did so without a hint of
irony. They just sang it because it was fun to sing.

@Chris: True, they get Rom's reaction right, but not Leeta's. I mean, in
the real world, Leeta would probably laugh at Rom and make fun of him when
talking to her friends. Then again, she's Bajoran, so maybe Bajoran women
value intelligence in men more than Earth women, even when that
intelligence only expresses itself in abstract subjects like engineering
but not in the social realm (given that Kira also falls for the rather
awkward but very competent Odo eventually would be another indication of
this).

A more accurate depiction of the nerd/hot girl dynamic was in Stargate
Universe, that between Eli and Chloe.

The main take away from this episode for me is just that the Federation's
approach to genetic engineering is ludite and backwards. This is an episode
that shows the cracks in the philosophy of the franchise. I get that it's a
complex issue, but it's dealt with in the most arbitrary of ways. The whole
notion that someone who is genetically gifted will have some ridiculous
desire to dominate reduces the issue to star wars level of complexity.
Genetic engineering = bad. Bashir himself contradicts that entire idea.
Bashir is a walking, talking testament to the incredible potential of the
technology. But we can't think about that, because that's too radical for
trek.

@Michael
It's true, Trek has never really properly delved into any transhumanism
ideas, which is a shame as it's one of my favourite topics. They'll touch
on things like cybernetics briefly, but they seem to be things that the
Federation just doesn't really do (I mean look at the zooming LaForge's
implants can do in First Contact. I'd be going out and getting a pair of
them installed! The Federation troops seen in DS9, if not genetically
engineered, should be filled to the brim with enhancements)

But regarding genetic engineering specifically, I think it's not only a
fear of what we might create, but also a general "nature is better"
attitude that pervades most of our culture. Phrases like "not what nature
intended" sum it up really, nature doesn't have a consciousness or agenda
and is actually pretty good at imperfection (also I think the
personification of nature might point to a religious origin).

In that light, I think Gene would have been all for some of the more
cyberpunk themed concepts, but it's a particularly eccentric pill for an
audience to swallow because it's so far removed from our understanding now.

I totally agree with Jammer when he points the dramatic problem of Julian
not having to face any consequences of his whole-life official lies. This
is a bit too much for me. One day, Sisko bombards and poisons an entire
planet to arrest a traitor. The other day, Wolfe illegally harms the
controlled weather of Risa just because he is jealous of Dex. Then later,
Sisko prevents Bajor to enter the Federation based on magicbabble visions
of the future. Today, Bashir assumes that he has lied to the federation
during his own life, even during his medicine tests, for sure.

The consequences imputed by Starfleet for all those cases? None. Zero.
Nada. This just cannot be credible, sorry. I get that DS9 tries to give
grey tones to the ideal Roddenberrian future. For one, showing that
judgements and moral choices in the frontier are not as simple as in the
voyaging starships such as Enterprise, as Wolfe recognizes in the beginning
of last season. Actually that is what makes DS9 so incredible for may of us
(myself included). I do love the even somewhat anti-Roddenberrian tone used
sometimes.

But one good thing is to give us a show where things are not as morally
clear and simple as within Federation own ships. Pretty good. Another
totally different thing is to show the same Federation and same Starfleet
in the same reality making such heterogeneous decisions about Starfleer
officers' misconduct just depending on which show we are watching.

In this point, the is just incoherent bad linking with the Trek universe,
not shading Trek with tones of grey.

Somehow, I don't actually mind that Julian "got away with" this in this
episode; his father paid the price because his father was the one who was
actually responsible for Julian being genetically engineered. I get that
Julian lied, and that should be a big mark against him, but it's also clear
that one cannot choose one's heritage and Julian being barred for entry
into Starfleet because of his parents' decision is something that was
manifestly unfair to begin with. It is noteworthy though how this compares
to Simon Tarses in TNG's "The Drumhead," who similarly had a genetic secret
and whose primary sin was lying about it, and whose career Picard
speculated might well be over.

I think Sisko is a bigger problem, but I might write about that in the What
You Leave Behind comments.

@William B: I agree with your general reasoning. This Bashir situation is
not the worst case of non-consequential misbehavior this season. In fact,
it makes sense that the one to be punished is his father, as Bashir himself
was too young when the genetic enhancing happened. Similarly, not letting
Bashir entry into Starfleet would of course have been unfair (but who said
the opposite?). Would be sort of a prejudice.

The issue is to not have any consequence, not even a small one (in fact not
even a reprimand) for his life-time lies to the Starfleet. He chose to hide
an important fact from Starfleet, not to mention to conceal a crime
evidence to protect his father, obliterating justice. It is quite a lot for
no consequence.

Lots of missed potential in this episode, I was actually going along with
it alright with the appearance of Picardo and the LMH copy of Bashir and
was expecting an interesting conceptual episode about the issues of
identity, the changeling replacement of Bashir, holographic rights,
imortality and Bashir's privacy but the "reveal" and consequences of the
genetic enhancement was badly written and then descended into soapy
maudalin melodrama wasting all the good work in the set-up and wasting the
talents of the cast and guest star Robert Picardo. The B plot was also
creepy risable and very badly written.

I also do not understand the Federation's decision against genetic "aide".
Having a character in A SPACE STATION eating food made by computers and who
recently vacationed on a planet where the weather is artificially
controlled saying that he's "unnatural" sounds completely disingenuous and
ludicrous.

The truth is Star Trek writers didn't want to go into that because when ST
was created, these things we seen as "cheating". For all the "wonderful"
new technologies they had on the show, it was actually the lat 60s and most
people still didn't have colour TV... and nobody really understood DNA
engineering. So, like for cloaking technology, an arbitrary decision was
made that the Federation were too good for either.

In reality of course, the Federation would have been crushed to pieces if
they had decided indeed to NOT develop a cloaking device for their ships.
It's like deciding that guns are a cowards' weapon and that you'll stay
with a sword. Well, you may very well do that, but you'll lose. The same
goes for genetic engineering, in truth it can be perfectly controlled
(although there should be a lot of safeguards) and indeed the Federation
sounds like Luddites and (like all Luddites) complete hypocrites,
considering the rest of the technology they create and use daily!

The A-plot in this was, for the most part, quite well done and highlighted
by the always fantastic Robert Picardo as Zimmerman. Not to be discounted,
of course, are the well-played scenes between the Bashir family. Julian's
father taking the fall for breaking Federation law on genetic manipulation
made a great deal of sense. It was after his fault. Julian may have gotten
off a bit easy himself having lied to enter Starfleet. Further insights
into that aspect are probably warranted. A discussion involving Julian's
accomplishments and interviews with friends/co-workers would have been nice
instead of "he's off the hook". I don't feel his father going to prison
does enough without the benefit of added dialogue in that respect.

Star Trek in any series has a habit of lack of repercussions on characters.
Though DS9 has some improvements in that area, it's far from perfect.

The B-plot works on its own terms concerning the logically-characterized
idiot-savant personality of Rom. He's socially awkward in most respects
despite being mechanically brilliant. He's also a Ferengi whose species
apparently contains rather clumsily awkward personas - some more present in
that regard than others. The Rom/Leeta scenes worked for me albeit on a
level of pleasant diversion. The final act of the episode with
Rom/Leeta/Zimmerman could've used a substantial rewrite, though, Zimmerman
walking off after the cute alien boarding the ship made me grin.

All in all, I rather liked this episode. I actually like it a bit more than
when I first saw it.

Jammer you're crazy. For five season we've seen almost NOTHING of Julian
Bashir. Literally what do we know of about him? He's a doctor. Okay. 90% of
his episodes revolve around some kind of medical theme and everytime he's
always put his patients first. Does the guy have no life outside of being a
doctor? Where's the character development? Where do we learn about him
having to put himself out there and having to deal with something else
besides treating peoples scrapes!?

Miles O'brien is the perfect example. Imagine every Miles episode involving
him solving some sort of techinical problem with the station? Boring. But
instead we get problems with his wife, we get him being in a faux prision,
we get him defeating an evil wormhole alien. Miles does shit, Bashir is
just a doctor who annoys people sometimes and has a hard time with the
ladies.

Then we get this episode and we see Siddig use his acting chops. The scenes
were great his parents as Bashir is filled with a dull rage at them. Bashir
goes from an overly eager beaver to a sad panda as his "ultimate" secret is
reavealed. And the ending scene where he reveals that he's been holding
back his whole life just to make others feel better? I'm hoping that this
plotline develops in further episodes. What really sucks though is I was
spoiled earlier on while reading a book about Star Trek, so I wish that I
hadn't know about this reveal before it was unveiled.

On a side note, the B plots almost always suck Jammer. Rom sucks, Leeta was
never good, did you ever have any hope for these characters?

-- Leeta as a bimbo.
-- Rom's "I love you!". Rom has never talked to Leeta (nor has she ever
said anything interesting) so there can be only one reason for his "love.".
And it's not her wit.
-- Amsha Bashir as a stereotypical submissive-Pakistani-wife type, making
soft placating sounds all episode while her husband and son fight. ( Even
the Federation seems to consider her a nobody who was just obeying her
husband and therefore deserves no punishment.)
-- Julian suffering no consequences
-- The casual reference to despicable Ferengi marriage customs, which are
far too similar to despicable current-day earth customs (the buying and
selling of brides as a business deal conducted between father and groom,
with the female as property) to be at all amusing.

I wish the writers had just let him resign and had Kira offer him his job
back via a Bajoran uniform. It would have been a nice way to slam him with
some real consequences and still change very little.

Something bothers me about the ending. The guy they were talking to was an
admiral... the way the dialog was structured, he sounded like he was judge
and jury for this case. Shouldn't that have been a civilian judge? The
whole plea deal was settled by talking to this admiral for like, a few
minutes (think about it: Julian went to Sisko's first thing in the morning,
so not much time could have passed). This fits a pattern that I've been
seeing on this show: You never see any politicians or civilian judges
anywhere, even in that episode where Bajor was going to join the
federation: The room was filled with starfleet uniforms, instead of
civilians. I'm beginning to get the impression that the federation is a
military dictatorship; I don't think this was intentional, its just badly
thought-out writing.

As one of those kids who was always ahead of the curve in school, this
story makes me sad. I see it as an allegory for the sometimes distasteful
role parents have to play to make their children a success, and the
sometimes legitimate resentment their children have for being pushed (or
even bullied) their whole lives.

This episode was pretty good, but Jammer is right about it bringing up a
huge issue that it couldn't deal with properly. The ending isn't a total
cop-out a la 'Sons of Mogh', and I like that Bashir's father is finally
taking responsibility for his actions in some way. But it also brushes
aside the significance of Bashir's "enhancements" to DS9 and his
relationship with the other crew members. Rom and Leeta were just there to
lighten the atmosphere between the doctor's poignant family scenes, so
their illogical relationship doesn't really bother me. And it was
interesting to see the real, human version of Voyager's doctor.

Brilliant idea about Bashir! That would have been perfect aside from future
episodes when section 31 comes on scene.

Eric,

I believe this to be a Star Fleet issue, but I agree - joining the
Federation isn't just a Star Fleet matter and the "party" should have
included civilian representation (at LEAST ambassadors).

Leeta - Chase has incredible boobs, you really can't 'look past that' when
evaluating her entrance into DS9. The way this business works I wouldn't be
surprised if she was 'seeing' someone in the casting/writing department
(she did try out for another DS9 part earlier). Bashir needed a
girlfriend... now that she and Julian broke off their relationship, well -
I guess Rom needed a girlfriend now. (wink-wink)

2 1/2 stars for me, most of it for Bashir's speech about his father being
an architect rather than a father.

This is a bizarre episode to follow up "By Inferno's Light". Without
writing my own review (Jammer sums up most of my thoughts pretty succinctly
on this one) I just want to say that this episode feels like it could have
fit nearly anywhere in the series, like the writers were sitting on the
script and pulled it out to take care of part of this year's 26-episode
obligation.

This really, REALLY should have addressed Bashir's time in the Jem'Hadar
prison. Is it even mentioned? If this is a pre-written script, could it not
have been adapted to include SOME references to the events currently going
down? If it's not a pre-written script, wow.

I'm surprised RDM put out such a clunker. The thing is that it's not even a
BAD episode. Mediocre at best, but it's so tone-deaf considering everything
else that's going on. You'd think Moore would have pushed to include some
of those elements in this show regardless of how much the writers' room
wanted this to be a genetic enhancement story.

To me, one of the main reasons genetic enhancement is banned in the
Federation (beyond the knee-jerk fear of Khan) is that it will naturally
enforce a terrible competitive environment. Parents with the means to do so
will now (seeing that the consequences are minor) bring their kids in for
upgrade, or risk falling behind. Your kid can be brilliant and successful,
and you just have to be willing to spend a couple of years in minimum
security. A lot of parents will be signing up! And competition keeps
getting tougher, which imposes real costs on the children. Surprised that
Starfleet's JAG admiral doesn't take that into account when rendering his
very hasty decision.

This was a decent episode. Much better than the 2 stars it's been given.
The downside, for me, is that Julian being a super human was shoehorned in
from nowhere. It was a really bizarre and silly thing to do to his
character. It certainly wasn't planned.

But the interactions between all the characters was good. It's good to
have proper character development. Just a shame that in this case it's a
bit of an unrealistic development. I liked the fact Julian and his family
felt real. A lot of time in Trek, there is no conflict or anything that
makes circumstances feel real. Here, it did.

Why play for the bullseye when playing for triple 20 would be better?
---------

I have no idea whose idea it was to put darts in Trek but, as a pretty good
dart player myself, I enjoyed it. I'd think that O'Brien's actor was the
one who asked for it, given his Irish background. But when I watch him
play, he is not standing, aiming, or even throwing correctly. And surely
he'd have corrected the writers about the scoring system.

They felt the need to put darts into the show and didn't do any research
into the rules.

@Yanks: Did anyone else think Julian's parents reminded them of Worf's
parents? YES, I even went to TNG "Family" to see if they looked alike. The
two mothers favor,the fathers look nothing alike.

Another thing we have in common is I like Rom too.

I just wish they had not made Julian genetically enhanced. It kills the
idea that he came in second when he graduated from Starfleet Medical, he
missed that question on purpose, drawing to attention away from himself. I
liked the idea that he was naturally a great doctor.

It's noteworthy that there is almost no discussion of whether genetic
enhancement should be outlawed. One gets the impression the writers
themselves weren't quite convinced, but accepted that it was in the Star
Trek universe. Instead, the ethical question in the episode is whether it
would be justified for a child to face a lifetime of restrictions because
his parents decided to have him "improved".

The writers pretty clearly had the same answer William B had above: "no."
The responsibility was his parents', although only his father steps
forward. The deal struck at the end seems to implicitly accept that it
isn't right that Bashir would be barred from service because of his
parents' actions.

Of course, the episode isn't just about the legal consequences of Bashir's
enhancement, it's also about the emotional fallout. His scenes with his
parents are about him dealing with his suppressed anger over this.
O'Brien, the "everyman" of the series, assures Bashir that this doesn't
change the way he'll think of him, although the last scene with the dart
game somewhat questions this.

All in all, a strong A-story, with good acting all around. As to the
B-story...I was fine with it. I wouldn't recommend it, but I might have
laughed once or twice.

A few comments from above:

-From Nyk: "Leeta would probably laugh at Rom and make fun of him when
talking to her friends. "

Ehhh, I've certainly known women like that, but it's generally a sign of
their own insecurity (they don't see themselves as very attractive, and
need to cut other people down to make themselves look better). There are
many attractive people who are quite open-hearted, regardless of their
intelligence.

-From Toraya: "Rom has never talked to Leeta"

They worked in Quark's together for years, and were both leaders in the
"strike" last year. They know each other well for the beginning of a
relationship. Even if Rom is inept in conversation, everyone who's dated
for a while knows you learn far more from observing how someone reacts in a
variety of situations than you do from conversation. That said, their
"love" is probably an adolescent version of the emotion...the same type
shown in a typical rom-com (they declare their love....end credits).

"Amsha Bashir as a stereotypical submissive-Pakistani-wife type, making
soft placating sounds all episode while her husband and son fight."

I took it quite differently. I though it was a pretty standard
relationship where the father-son have intense arguments and the
mother/wife faces the difficult decision of figuring out when to avoid the
crossfire and when to try and play the peacekeeper. Mother/daughter
relationships can have the same dynamics, though they aren't shown as often
in drama.

It's a rare episode that takes what looks to be a typical comedy and turns
it up to something that actually has a bit of soul. Pulling together an
explanation for Bashir's character realistically and organically - and to
deliver it as a surprise - is something of a triumph for the writers.

The earlier scenes are nicely light-hearted, as two massive egos play off
each other. Of course it's a pleasure to have Zimmerman appear, and whoever
decided to put Morn in the talking heads is a genius.

I actually liked the Leeta/Rom story, although spent most of the episode
wanting to punch Rom in the face. Go figure. 3 stars.

Like many commenters, I thought this was quite a good episode. It is oddly
structured, definitely. Zimmerman's visit leads to a lot of material that
mostly ends up being irrelevant once Bashir's secret is out, since the LMH
program gets dropped (and so Zimmerman only sticks around for Rom/Leeta
material). But it does matter, I think. First off, I like the idea that
Bashir's secret gets discovered mostly because he is such a terrific
success; it's rather poetic that the genetic modifications were done to get
Bashir to a certain level of success, and that led to the fame which
eventually exposed that particular skeleton that got him there in the first
place. Second, I think that the interviews with Bashir's friends emphasize,
first off, how well Bashir has managed to keep "closeted" on his genetic
status, as well as how much he has changed since the beginning of the
series. The latter, of course, is very important because most of the reason
people like him now has to do with the way he has grown as a person, and
not just because of the genetics. (It’s annoying that Garak is absent
from this episode, though—wouldn’t it be nice to have Zimmerman
interview him? And seeing Garak’s reaction to Bashir having had this
secret all this time would be pretty worthwhile.)

The family dynamics between Julian and his father ring true. (I like
methane’s interpretation of Julian’s mother’s role here.) There is a
bit of an extratextual kick from Bashir's family's race, which I don't
think has any impact in-story in the 24th century but links the pressures
his parents were under in some ways to the problem of immigrants wanting to
assimilate and thrive in the West, and particularly inadvertently placing
extraordinary burdens on their children to make sense of their lives.
Either way, Richard Bashir also has a somewhat lower-class English accent,
which suggest that there may be some remnants of class markers even in the
24th century. I like, though, that the story of the Bashirs' difficulty,
both Richard's in his own career and Jules' as a child (and the parents' as
a whole), are very convincing within the Utopian TNG-era framework set up.
The Bashirs did not have to start robbing to pay off gambling debts or
whatever, and there seems to be no particular difficulty at *surviving*,
but on some level thriving always remains somewhat difficult, and somehow
Richard never figured out how to bring an order to his own life and
priorities. Jules was a slow child and his parents were afraid to let him
fall further and further behind, and have a life of mediocrity to look
forward to, where his physical needs would always be met but he would
always feel inferior. I have wondered what the best current-day real-world
analogue is for illegal genetic enhancements are—performance-enhancing
drugs in sports, maybe?—but mostly I think it works best in this episode
for the pressure exerted onto children by their parents to *be better*,
sometimes because of the parents’ own insecurities and sometimes out of a
genuine desire by the parents to make a better life for their suffering
child. Bashir’s mourning for his lost childhood as the person he was
before his parents transformed him matches up with his parents’
declaration that he was unhappy, struggling, miserable, and we are left
without a clear answer as to whether what his parents did ultimately helped
their son or not.

I know that Siddig was not told ahead of time about the genetic enhancement
reveal and was understandably unhappy about it (and I have also read that
he deliberately sabotaged some later performances so they would stop giving
him Data-esque lines, which is less professional but also in some senses
understandable). And I agree that this development was not in any
particular way planned. But as far as retcons go, this one has always made
sense to me. Bashir has always been an unusual, top-of-his-generation
medical genius, and he has also always seemed both to put his intelligence
and medical skill as his defining trait and had large insecurities about
it. It’s standard gifted-child issues, and it’s more poignant when we
find that his giftedness was artificially created by his parents, whom
Julian felt never quite loved the him who existed before the enhancement.
His difficulty finding worth in himself except for his daring medical deeds
is consistent with someone who really wonders if his intelligence is all
that makes him important, and who also “knows” that his intelligence is
not some universe luck-of-the-draw but is the result of his parents’
cheating in the genetic lottery. I think the reason his friendship with
O’Brien is so important here and elsewhere is that O’Brien’s
“ordinariness” (“uncomplicated,” as in “Statistical
Probabilities”), or everyman status (despite being himself a brilliant
engineer), helps confirm that Bashir actually can get in touch with other
people at large, and not just other exceptionals, and thus perhaps let go
of needing his super-duper exceptionality to prove his worth. This makes
sense also of O’Brien being the focal point of Bashir’s “coming
out” as genetically enhanced, rather than having him have conversations
with Dax or Garak.

I think the ending is meant to suggest that Julian had no responsibility
for what happened to him, and so it makes sense for Richard to go to
jail…except that, uh, Julian lied for a few decades about it. I mentioned
Simon Tarses way up there (lying about being a quarter Romulan), and this
seems to be worse by Federation law standards. So it is a bit of a cheat.
If Starfleet is serious about their deterrent policy then it seems like
having Bashir get to stay in Starfleet because he lied successfully long
enough to become a raging success is going to help them. I don’t really
mind it all that much here, nor that the episode does not really even make
the case for why genetic engineering is illegal—the admiral name-checks
Khan, and that is that—because I know that future episodes will do some
work addressing this. It makes the episode a bit incomplete, but I’m okay
with the focus being purely on the personal.

As for the subplot, no. The problem is that we are being asked to invest in
the Rom/Leeta relationship despite the entire history of their relationship
on screen being “Bar Association” and Leeta’s line about finding Rom
cute and very sexy in “Let He Who Is Without Sin….” It is a comedy
plot, so I get that we don’t need to invest that much, but Leeta is going
to plan her whole life on whether or not Rom can get up the courage to ask
her out, I guess, which is the same as him getting the courage to say he
loves her, because who cares about all those intermediate steps. Robert
Picardo does save some of the material, but it is mostly very painful.

3 stars for the whole package—say a guarded 3.5 for the Bashir material
and a 1-1.5 for the subplot, which fortunately takes up little time.

I have two big complaints about "Doctor Bashir, I Presume?", one from the
A-plot and one from the B-plot. First, it's painfully obvious that the
concept of Bashir being genetically enhanced was just as much an eleventh
hour decision on the part of the writers as Richard Bashir's decision to
inform Sisko and the admiral was for him. Second, I really don't care for
how Dr. Zimmerman is treated in the B-plot.

The revelation that Bashir is an Augment (a term which wasn't invented
until ENT but which I'm borrowing) is a classic example of the writers
literally pulling an idea straight out of their asses. There is quite
honestly zero build-up to the reveal, it requires some decidedly selective
re-interpretation of previous Bashir-focused episodes in order to work and
happens so relatively late in the series that it comes across as something
of a "wouldn't it be neat if...." concept. Still, once you get past the
dubious nature of its set-up, the A-plot is surprisingly good (not perfect,
but very good). On the plus side, the Bashir family dynamics work almost
perfectly. With such a massive pink elephant sitting in the middle of the
room, which nobody wants to address (or simply can't address), it's
completely natural that everyone involved would begin to interact toxicly.
On the negative side, Amsha's defense of their actions rings somewhat
hollow and really needed more work in the writing room. "You have to
understand that we didn't do it because we were ashamed but because you
were our son and we loved you," she implores. I don't buy it. It really
does come across that they were ashamed of having a son who was falling
behind his classmates. Neither her or Richard appear to have loved Jules
Bashir as the person he was and so determined to change him. While I
appreciate that the writers were trying to make their decision somewhat
sympathetic, I don't think they all together succeed. Again on the plus
side, Richard's decision to finally accept responsibility and go to prison
so his son can retain his life is a noble sacrifice (and Richard is an
wonderful character all around - it's nice to see a Human who isn't
supremely competent at virtually everything, something Trek has a weakness
for). But, again on the negative side - why is he the only one who gets
sent off to the New Zealand penal colony (which is apparently where all
Human criminals end up - it's also where Tom Paris served his prison term).
Wasn't Amsha equally responsible for the decision to genetically engineer
Bashir? Why does she escape any punishment?

But the big plus the episode has in it's favor is it's relevancy to
real-world issues. William B said up-thread - "I have wondered what the
best current-day real-world analogue is for illegal genetic enhancements
are—performance-enhancing drugs in sports, maybe?" Well, I think I have
an analogue. While we don't yet have the technology to genetically
engineer a person, we do have the technology to discard certain people who
don't "measure up." There have been some studies that have indicated that
somewhere around 90% of babies prenatally diagnosed with Down Syndrome are
aborted. And that parents who decide to keep a child with Down Syndrome
are oftentimes looked upon with thinly disguised disgust. In fact, some
people see it as a full-on moral responsibility to see that no such babies
are born, since we have the ability to stop it. I, myself, have a friend
who has a son with Down Syndrome. He wasn't, however, prenatally diagnosed
and she and her husband literally didn't find out until they were in the
delivery room. Then, with her holding the minutes-old newborn in her arms,
the doctor and head nurse both flat out said "I'm so sorry; if we had known
earlier, you could have had an abortion." Naturally my friend was totally
disgusted. The point is that it's simply cruel to assume a simple genetic
accident or defect could rob a person of his inherent value. Fortunately,
Trek has usually agreed with me where this issue is concerned, and "Doctor
Bashir, I Presume?" fits in nicely with that trend.

Then there's the Rom/Leeta B-plot. While I don't think it was anywhere
near as bad as Jammer apparently did, it did need a lot of work. First,
again while I appreciate what the writers were attempting to do (this time
with Rom's nervousness around Leeta), it just doesn't ring true to the
character. I love the fact that they were trying to portray a case of
severe social anxiety (the closest Trek ever came to that previously was
with the character of Barclay) because I, personally, have suffered from
truly debilitating social anxiety around women. Jammer says that Rom here
is "a caricature completely devoid of the slightest remnant of subtlety"
and "a cardboard, exaggerated, epitome of idiocy with no hint of any social
grace." Well, *that* is rather exaggerated, in my humble opinion. Rom's
level of discomfort around Leeta is EXACTLY the level of anxiety I've
experienced my whole life around any attractive woman. So, he's not a
caricature. People like this do exist in the real world; I'm living proof.
The problem is that it just doesn't fit with Rom's previously established
character. Yes, he's shy and bashful around Leeta, but he certainly didn't
have anywhere near this level of difficulty interacting with her in "Bar
Association", did he? His sudden turn toward crippling social phobia here
just comes directly out of left field. I suppose you could say that's
because of his experience with Prinadora, Nog's mother. But that doesn't
explain why he was able to talk to Leeta in previous episodes. Good grief,
isn't this the same guy who openly asked this very woman for a hand-job?!
Second, why the hell didn't Leeta just ask Rom out herself in the first
place?! And please, spare me the cliched nonsense of "women aren't taught
that they can do that." In the real world they most certainly are and have
been for at least the last two generations. Third, what connection do
these two plots have to each other? I suppose you could say there is the
shared theme of "secrets being revealed", but that's about it. I haven't
seen a two plot episode this disjointed since "Life Support" -
unsurprisingly, another episode with a fairly serious A-plot bogged down by
a light-weight B-plot involving one of the recurring Ferengi characters in
a romantic situation.

But the big problem is, again, the treatment of Dr. Zimmerman. While the
writers did the right thing with a crossover guest character here - i.e.
didn't a.) let him completely steal the show by having all the focus on him
instead of the "Deep Space Nine" characters (like most of Troi's and
Barclay's appearances on VOY or how Riker and Troi utterly destroyed ENT's
finale) or b.) have him be nothing but a corny and pointless cameo
appearance (shades of Mirror Tuvok come immediately to mind!) - the way he
is basically just discarded once Rom actually plucks up his courage and
tells Leeta his feelings for her is rather off-putting. Apparently the
main "message" of this plot one of "the shy, socially clumsy guy getting
the hot girl." Well, isn't Zimmerman another shy, somewhat socially clumsy
guy? Granted, he's nowhere near as bad as Rom is in this episode, but he's
still somewhat of a klutz around women. And yet, the episode basically
just tells him to go jump off a cliff, or maybe continue pursuing other
unattainable women, once Leeta and Rom are together. Was that really
necessary?

Wow, that ended up being much longer than I anticipated. Long story short
- a good episode which is dragged down from the heights it could have
achieved by some really noticeable flaws.

The only bit of this that I'm not too fond of is the genetic enhancement
reveal scene, the bit where his father goes "And just so there's no
misunderstanding, I give you my word that at no time in our interview with
Doctor Zimmerman will we ever mention or even hint at the fact that you
were genetically enhanced as a child. " There was no need for him to openly
say that, it was too obvious and not subtle in anyway shape or form, there
was no need for him to mention the genetically engineering as a child
because Bashir already knew of the secret, he could have gone "hint at the
fact of our little secret" but because the audience needed to know what the
secret was, he says the secret out loud. It just seems a clunky, obviously
unsubtle way of revealing what the secret was especially seeing as its a
public space, anyone could have been in the next room or walked in the
Infirmary behind them etc.

When I watched this episode when it first came out I thought it was really
stupid. But this time around I thought it was well done. The A plot was
moving and well-acted and the B plot was sweet, although I could have lived
without the naked scene.

Why didn't the doctor call before just showing up at the station? Why
wouldn't Sisko have known about it in advance? The exposition at the
beginning was weird.

What does Julian's mother do for work? Why doesn't she go to prison? Was
she not involved in the decision to modify him? If not, why not?

Why doesn't Leda ask out Rom? It's not like Bajoran women never take the
initiative.

The show is really inconsistent about travel time. Is earth a couple hours
from DS 9 (as implied by Julian's parents just showing up) or a couple of
weeks (as implied by other episodes and the inability to have starships
available as back up when you need them.

Myles' statement to Julian that genetic enhancement doesn't affect
someone's personality was completely contradicted by the admiral's
statement that it can make people overly ambitious like Khan.

"What does Julian's mother do for work? Why doesn't she go to prison? Was
she not involved in the decision to modify him? If not, why not? "

That one at least was easy. They didn't prosecute her. Starfleet wasn't
looking for blood here. Julian's Dad agreed to take full responsibility and
punishment and the JAG accepted and honored the deal he made with him.

BASHIR: You can't do this.

BENNETT: It was your father's suggestion, Doctor. He pleads guilty to
illegal genetic engineering and in exchange you stay in the service.

BASHIR: Well, I want no part of it. I'm not going to just stand by while my
father...

RICHARD: Jules. Julian. Listen to me. This is my decision. I'm the one who
took you to Adigeon Prime. I'm the one who should take responsibility for
it.

Often in real life as well a plea deal comes with benefits to both sides.
Hence the term plea DEAL. The deal is that Julian and his mom are off the
hook. It doesn't mean that they aren't guilty, it means the JAG isn't going
to come after them.

Julian is not guilty. He was not involved in the decision and even if he
was he was too young to bear any responsibility for it. I doubt that he
ever lied about it except by omission --unless the application to Star
Fleet includes a check box: Check here if you are genetically modified.

It is illegal for genetically modified people to serve in Starfleet
so...uh, yeah, that means Julian lied. He's not guilty of *being* modified,
he's guilty of *hiding* it. Clearly anyone in society with that status is
meant to register as such, which automatically means they're ineligible for
certain jobs. Not registering is a crime.

Peter G.: That's the equivalent of racist. It is discrimination against
Bashir's status as a genetically modified person, a status over which he
has no control. Moreover, if it is not part of the application process to
ask if you've been modified, then it is unfair to punish someone (who did
not choose to be modified) for not saying that they are. What if Bashir
had been modified as a baby and never knew it? Would he still be
ineligible to serve and in danger of a dishonorable discharge if
discovered?

If he didn't know it's not a lie, but he did know. He knew he wasn't
allowed to serve in Starfleet by Starfleet rules, so at the least he's
guilty of fraud.

Now, Starfleet's rules ARE discriminatory. I don't think they're "racist"
because "genetically engineered" isn't really a race (arguably). But it's
also a different problem from colour blindness. The restriction on
genetically engineered people serving in Starfleet, as stated in the
episode, is more about deterrence on a societal level than individuals with
genetic enhancements. Maybe based on Statistical Probabilities we could
also argue that genetic engineering gone wrong is seen as a potential
ticking time bomb liability, but that wasn't brought up here. Bashir could
maybe argue that the rules for Starfleet ate sufficiently discriminatory
that he was morally justified in breaking the law, frame himself as an
activist. Some laws are unjust.

That's fair, William, except this law isn't unjust. It is a fact that any
time there is an incentive to do a thing some percentage of people will do
it. If genetic enhancement is an advantage, people will do it. The only way
to prevent it is to make it not be an advantage.

Calling such a law "racist" bespeaks never having lived through the horrors
that humanity did in Star Trek. It's easy to forget that the utopia we see
in TNG and DS9 only came after atrocities like the eugenics wars, WWIII,
and the time period we see in Encounter at Farpoint. If you knew *for
certain* that only such laws could help prevent further instances of that
you'd beg for them.

@Peter, I agree. I decided (partly since I was/am on my phone) not to get
into why I thought Starfleet's rule is justified. I do think it is
"discriminatory," but I mean that as a descriptor more so than judgment. I
think that Bashir doesn't seriously challenge the ethics of the Starfleet
ruling because, while he hates that he is limited by something he didn't
choose himself, he probably gets deep down that he doesn't have much of a
leg to stand on particularly when the horrors of the Eugenics Wars are
taken into account. I more wanted to say he *could* attempt that argument,
and that it would be *more easily* argued that Bashir had broken an unjust
law than that he broke no law at all, though I don't ultimately agree that
the law is unjust either.

What if Bashir has kids? Will they inherit the genetic modifications he
received? Would they be ineligible to serve in Star Fleet? What else will
they be prohibited from doing? Do they need to register with the
government so they can be easily traced? If they get appointed to the
judiciary will they be ineligible to preside over a trial that involves
other descendants of genetically modified people?

What about Spock and all the other half-humans? They were created through
gene-splicing. Isn't that genetic modification?

Peremenso: In one of the novels (no idea which one, I read it over 20
years ago) it stated that Spock was made by gene-splicing. I can't say if
that's canon or not, but it's highly unlikely that two species that evolved
on different planets would be able to make babies in the regular way.

The books aren't canon, and are most likely written by people with zero
knowledge of science in any case. It is an indisputable fact in Trek that
some different species can interbreed, and this is not 'gene splicing.'
TNG's "The Chase" suggests a reason why they can do so, but even so such a
premise is not required. The writers say they can do it, so that's that.

When a character's past is retconned in such a major way as this, it's
almost always for the worse, but this is one of those rare exceptions that
proves the rule, because it actually fits so well with what's already been
established about Bashir (his athletic prowess, his undeniable intellectual
abilities, his occasional arrogance about said abilities, etc...). It's a
shame that everything about the development, from how it was revealed to
how it was tidied up, was so poorly written. This could have been one of
DS9's best stories if handled with more subtlety and patience.

On the other hand, I largely enjoyed the Zimmerman/Leeta/Rom love/lust
triangle, and, even if it was 'low brow' for Trek, I can't complain about
seeing Chase Masterson bouncing around in a towel.

Also, not to be too pedantic, but wasn't the Eugenics Wars period 400 years
ago, not 200 years ago? If the latter were true, Khan would have been
banging around AFTER the events of Enterprise, right? A bit awkward, that.

Yes, the Eugenics Wars 'took place' in the 1990's, so around 380 years
prior to the episode. Did they really say 200 years in the episode? I never
noticed that, but if they did it would be a mistake, yeah.

I greatly enjoyed this episode and in light of the Eugenics War I think the
rule against enhancement was a necessary evil.

I thought Julian's father was a great character that I found well done and
refreshing. So much of Trek revolves exclusively around humanity's cream of
the crop, the Picards and Kirks of the universe, it's just refreshing to
run into someone who would probably be selling used cars in our time. Even
Barclay, for all his faults, was still a genius - this guy is a mediocrity,
a real loser, and somehow there isn't enough of that in Trek.

I did find the father's deal a little too pat - if that was a likely option
all along, why not just say so? If I had to explain it in a more sensible
way, Sisko was Captain of one of the most important outposts in the
Federation and he used his influence to convince Starfleet to bend the
rules to salvage his officer. At least, that is how I would have written
it.

Regarding the mother, I don't object to her husband falling on his sword
for her and her not going to jail. But it seemed like the episode just
didn't have the time or inclination to really address her character in a
serious way. It isn't even that she seems particularly submissive to her
husband - rather she's just kind of ignored for most of the episode. If
they had jettisoned the idiot Leeta / Rom subplot maybe we could have dealt
with mom more seriously. Or if they weren't prepared to address that, maybe
they should have just said she left Julian's father or died in a
transporter accident.

@Luke There is a bit of foreshadowing in Homefront, where Bashir hints at
strained relationship with his parents. And really, even if it had little
to no build up, it did explain more things then it contradict.

Okay, I agree with most here that the B plot is painful, BUT, and I can't
believe it, I might have found an explanation for Leeta jsut not expressing
her feelings-in Bar Association, she seems to come around liking Rom after
he stands up for their rights and gives inspiring speech after speech.
Perhaps she's only interested if he is the brave guy she thought he is.
Yeah, it's probably bullshit. Still, I didn't really find Zimmerman all
that shy or awkward.

No, that really isn't that. When a show is set in the same universe as
ours, writers (good writers) are expected to obey the laws of physics and
biology as much as possible, and give good reasons for anything that is,
without massive medical intervention, scientifically impossible (even then,
likely still totally impossible). In this case, it was probably better not
to even go down this ridiculous route.

When writers don't give good reasons, or don't spend time making believable
stories, we are not supposed to sit here nodding our heads and saying "So
what?" We're supposed to be angry that either they were too lazy to care,
too stupid to know, or think we are too stupid to know. And when they
aren't held to account, they never improve and we get an increasingly
inferior product.

Bashir's father no doubt spent all his savings to have this done to his son
and there's a shadow of a doubt over every aspect of his personality. For
example, is his lower class socio-linguistic dialect real or was "upper
middle class" but after the augmentation chose to live a more mediocre life
to ensure not much attention was paid to him and his family? (Remember they
moved after the treatments and he procured falsified documents for his son
- fraud big time).

Re: Julian, now we know this about him so many of his actions make sense.
Why does he endlessly play the role of a spy in holosuite programs? Is it
because his whole life he's been in "deep cover" or is that the vocation he
really wanted? (We actually don't know if he wanted to study medicine or
not, he may have been pushed in that direction).

It shows that Bashir is a competent liar also. That explains why he enjoys
Garak's company so much - is his meetings with Garak training for him or is
it further study in learning from the best? It also "proves" he got that
question wrong not for a girl or because he froze but because he didn't
want to stand out too much in every way. It also explains why he chose a
post on a Bajoran station in deep space - far away from Earth, his parents
and a too "Starfleet" environment.

Lastly, regarding him "lying" to Starfleet, you guys have to understand his
position. I reckon he learned while still as a child of what had happened.
Sitting through history classes about the Eugenics Wars would have been a
nightmare for him. He would have also lived with the fear that if it was
discovered his parents would go to jail and he would be rehomed. After the
treatments were done, to confess the truth would make everything his father
did for him meaningless and remember that he would have been continually
"coached" on how to act by his father (who may have introduced him to James
Bond films to help him pretend to be someone else).

Lastly II: the "deal" at the end works for the following: This is a time of
war - heck, even Romulans are cooperating with the Federation and Bashir
has a plethora of knowledge on the Dominion having even been captured by
them and spent time in an internment camp. To instantly "drop" him from
Starfleet over something his parents did to him as child and the daily
"abuse" of having him lead a pseudo-double life (quite burdensome and
traumatic for a child) during a time of war when the whole Alpha Quadrant's
future hangs in the balance is shortsighted and harsh. It's not like he's
an Eddington - abusing his position to secretly assist an anti-Federation
cause, he just wanted to please his father after a terrible (and illegal)
sacrifice was made.

The punishment fit the crime - it was harsh enough to send a message that
Starfleet will not allow augmentation to go unpunished but soft enough not
to turn Bashir into another Eddington.

This is a stand out episode in any Trek, it makes you want to rewatch DS9
from the beginning and pay close attention to everything that comes out of
Bashir's mouth because the person we thought was just a goofy young doctor
with a penchant for the ladies and "frontier medicine" is just a cover for
who he really is - the human Garak.

4 stars - one of the best Trek episodes ever, even with the
Zimmerman/Leeta/Rom love triangle subplot.

"Re: Julian, now we know this about him so many of his actions make sense.
Why does he endlessly play the role of a spy in holosuite programs? Is it
because his whole life he's been in "deep cover" or is that the vocation he
really wanted? (We actually don't know if he wanted to study medicine or
not, he may have been pushed in that direction). "

While I suppose that's an interesting take on it, I wouldn't say it
explains why Bashir played the spy programs. For starters, Bashir wasn't
originally written to be genetically engineered, so the writers made him a
fan of spy stories without his hidden past in mind.

And I think his love of spy stories is simpler than that. Julian's a doctor
and doctors keep secrets of their patients all the time. Being a James
Bond-like spy also feeds Bashir's real life desires to be an elite
professional. Bashir also hangs around Garak which has given him sort of a
romantic idea of what spies are like. It also doesn't hurt that Bashir also
has an English accent which many Bonds have.

Anything after the Dominion two parter would be a step down. I was hoping
for an episode tied to this newest twist in the arc but instead we got a
standalone. Okay. But it wasn't a very good one

First there's the stupid ferengi romance love triangle with Rom Leeta and
dr Zimmerman. This held Zero interest for me

Then you have a rather pointless Crossover with Robert Picardo as
Zimmerman. I didn't like Zimmerman on VOY and even less on DS9. He is an
annoying character

Then you have the Bashir portion. Don't care him being made into a
hologram. That left the family stuff and BIG secret. The latter was
underwhelming. I wanted something more interesting and compelling. And the
family stuff didn't do much for me either

The B-Plot is an utter waste of Picardo's acting talents. I can't imagine
he was happy with the dialogue he was given.

As for the A-Plot, they didn't emphasize enough why these laws were in
place in my opinion. They should have mentioned Khan at least three times
in ensuring the audience knew just why the Federation is so hostile to
genetic engineering.

That's a great point, I really wish they had laid out why genetic
engineering was bad before Bashir went all doomsday on his career. I think
the problem was, like I mentioned before, the Picardo plot was originally
the A-plot of the episode. Later, it was decided that Bashir needed to have
a horrible secret because the comedy material from A-Plot didn't fill a
whole show.

I think the secret did in fact make Bashir's character more interesting,
but the writers didn't really consider the implications of genetic
engineering itself until later shows. In fact, you could give Bashir pretty
much any family skeleton in the closet here and this episode would play out
the same.

If the only appearance of Khan was in "Space Seed" and he was never
mentioned again, maybe it would be necessary to bring him up several times
-- who knows what details in random (albeit iconic and memorable) TOS
episodes are of such great importance, and even the major importance of the
Eugenics Wars in the 20th century might be a detail in early TOS that sort
of eventually got dropped from "important" canon. But I dunno. The Wrath of
Khan is probably one of the five or so most famous works in the franchise.
(I'd say maybe Tribbles, City on the Edge, WOK, The Voyage Home, and BOBW,
in terms of general renown and cultural penetration, FWIW.) I don't think
that multiple reminders were really necessary.

That's an interesting point, and I agree TWOK is arguably one of the most
famous Trek elements known in mainstream culture. Nevertheless, I don't
think I was reminded of Khan in this episode until the admiral name dropped
him. I suppose, at least in my mind, there's a huge difference between
curing an ailing child of mental deficiencies with genetics and creating a
super human military tactician. The connection isn't immediately obvious.

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